updated 11:00 am EDT, Tue September 15, 2009

Atheros puts 11n Wi-Fi and BT on 1 card

Atheros today unveiled a mini PCI Express card that it hopes could give netbooks and other small portables full wireless without the added bulk of a separate chipset. Known just as the AR9002WB-1NGB, it has both a single-stream 802.11n Wi-Fi connection and Bluetooth in a single package. The combo not only provides up to 150Mbps networking in ideal conditions but manages to avoid the interference that often plagues systems with separate Bluetooth; it automatically adjusts the transfer rates to avoid colliding data and to improve practical speeds.

The unification of the two also saves about 20 percent of the cost for a device builder versus having to include separate chips.

Officially, Atheros supports Linux and modern Windows operating systems, but the company hasn't named any specific custoemrs for the new wireless card. Sampling for those who want to use it has started today; shipping usually takes place sometime afterwards. The chipset producer's technology has at times been seen in computers from Apple and other American firms. [viaCNET]